It's been a while since I talked with you, but in my defense, I've been busy writing my lastest historical fiction novel, tentatively entitled, Discovering Joan. Yes, this time I'm writing about a, gulp, girl! So far, all my books have been about boys, that I affectionately call "my boys." They are Mark, Gary, Lou, Danny, Rob, Michael and Simon. A member of my writing group suggested I write about a girl. I fought the suggestion for a long time figuring girls are no fun to write about, they're not as daring and don't get into trouble the way a boy does.
However, when someone suggested I write about the girl Michael meets who's posing as a man in the Civil War in Testing Michael, I thought about it and decided I could possibly do it.
I had laid out the background for Joan in Michael, not knowing I would be featuring her in her own book. The trouble with that is that now I have to adhere to what I laid out which means in her book, I have to kill off her baby and her husband for her to have a reason to join the Union Army in 1861.
I have just finished killing them off (life was hard in the 1860s!😄) and I'm getting her ready to pose as a man in order to be accepted into the army , now I need YOUR help. She's learning to smoke a cigar to make her transformation believable. I have never smoked even a cigarette, never mind a cigar, so I don't know the first thing about it except what I've researched. She has only seen her father, brothers and husband smoke so she's been a bystander, not an active participant.
I'm hoping one of you dear people will remember the first time you smoked a cigar and how it made you feel, how it tasted, smelled, etc. Remember, this is 1861 and cigars were quite different from today's cigars. If you have some amazing insight, I will be happy to incorporate it into the book and give you credit in the Acknowledgements.
Another way you can help me is to vote for one of two possible covers I've come up with. Each shows Joan as a girl and also her posing as a male soldier. Please tell me which you prefer, No. 1 or No. 2. You will note that the title is different between No. 1 and No. 2. Disregard that and tell me which cover design you prefer.
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| No. 1 |
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| No. 2 |
For reference, here is the cover of Testing Michael in which Joan is introduced as a minor character. Michael is a thirteen-year-old who joins the Civil War as a messenger.
Quote of the Day: We can’t be everything for our book. Sometimes, we must surrender it to people who can help. Being Indie: A No Holds Barred, Self Publishing Guide for Indie Authors
